Ireland's giant-killing performance has sent Irish sports fans scurrying to learn the rules of a game many thought had left the country with the British in 1921.
DUBLIN: Ireland's giant-killing performance at the World Cup in Jamaica this week has sent Irish sports fans scurrying to learn the rules of a game many thought had left the country with the British in 1921.
While it has been played in Ireland for centuries, cricket has been a minority interest since British rule ended, with many nationalists dismissing it as a colonial hangover.
However, the Irish team's jaw-dropping victory over former world champions Pakistan last weekend and their subsequent entry to the cup's second round has become a source of national pride, splashed across the sports pages and talked about in every pub.
Niall O'Brien, who scored 72 in the Pakistan upset, and captain Trent Johnston who scored the winning six are virtually household names. Their achievement has even merited praise in parliament.
"I congratulate the Irish cricketing team very sincerely on their magnificent achievement in the West Indies," Deputy Prime Minister Michael McDowell told parliament on Thursday.
He said the government had made special consular support available to the estimated 1,500 fans -- dubbed "the Blarney Army" by the Irish press -- accompanying the team.
Sports Minister John O'Donoghue described the team's success as "a terrific achievement" and said it had played a major role in raising the profile of cricket in Ireland.
However, the unexpected triumph by debutants Ireland, 2000-1 rank outsiders before the tournament, has proved frustrating for sports shop owners faced with sudden sharp demand but unable to source merchandise in the Irish colours.
"We've been inundated with inquiries -- up to 100 phone calls a day," John Larkin at Elverys Sports shop in central Dublin said.
"The main demand has been for shirts. We could have sold thousands but we can't get them -- I think it may be a licensing problem."
Ireland pushed through to the Super Eights after group rivals Zimbabwe lost to Pakistan, and will play a further six games against the world's biggest cricketing nations over the next four weeks.
While few seriously believe the journey can go too much further, the possibility of playing England at their own game later this month has sent a slight frisson through the Irish sporting fraternity.
However, with the Irish team composed largely of amateur players who must balance their sport with their jobs, money worries are starting to bite.
Another four weeks abroad for the team, on top of more than two months already on the road, is likely to test the finances of the tiny Irish Cricket Union, which compensates the players' employers for their absence.
Ireland play West Indies on Friday -- an encounter that will stir memories of Ireland's greatest previous claim to fame when they dismissed their current hosts for 25 in 1969.
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